


Cold, Cold Man

by KagekaNecavi



Category: Avengers Assemble (Cartoon), Marvel, The Avengers - Ambiguous Fandom
Genre: Armor, Attempted Murder, Cap_Ironman Tiny Reverse Bang, Contains Elements of 616, Established Relationship, Happy Ending, Hypothermia, Jealousy, M/M, One-Sided Attraction, Stony Bingo 2016, sentient armor - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-13
Updated: 2016-08-13
Packaged: 2018-08-08 13:58:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,396
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7760449
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KagekaNecavi/pseuds/KagekaNecavi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>At first Steve had thought it was Tony. There hadn’t been any reason to think otherwise. But there was something wrong, and things went downhill quickly when Steve brought it up.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Cold, Cold Man

**Author's Note:**

> Written for both the [Heroic](http://capim-tinybang.tumblr.com/post/148539440088/title-bring-me-in-out-of-the-cold-artist) prompt for the [Cap Iron Man Tiny Reverse Bang](http://capim-tinybang.tumblr.com/) \- art by itself can be seen [here](http://66.media.tumblr.com/1c8ffdb351d3aaa305adab5f920eea79/tumblr_o8pwf2jNqK1uqoi07o1_500.jpg) \- and for the [“popsicle”](http://cap-ironman.livejournal.com/1595568.html?thread=12805808#t12805808) square on my Steve/Tony bingo card. Because I could not pass that opportunity up.
> 
> Title is a reference to the Saint Motel song [Cold, Cold Man](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBAExYOYA3k). I hear it on the radio sometimes and when I heard it the other day and thought of this fic I felt it fit rather well.
> 
> Please see end notes for warnings/tag explanations/comic book links.

“What’s going on with you today, Tony?!” Steve snapped when they got back to the tower after the battle with Atuma, angrily tearing his cowl off and tossing it aside.

“I don’t know what you mean,” Tony said, shaking his head.

“Don’t - Tony, you were all over the map out there! You were two blocks away twice when I needed you to cover me and you nearly let debris fall on civilians!” Steve said, gesturing angrily.

“I did the calculations - I was where I was most effective,” Tony said, and he sounded oddly calm. Normally Tony sounded either apologetic or angry when Steve confronted him like this. Never this calm. There was definitely something wrong.

Steve took a deep breath to center himself and make sure he really wanted to say what he was about to say, “Something’s up with you. I don’t know what it is, but something’s up. Come on - get out of the suit and I’ll put some normal clothes on, too, and we can go talk about it somewhere.”

Tony took a step back and shook his head and alarm bells went off in Steve’s head. “No. I’m fine. Nothing’s going on.”

“Then how about we just go hang out? I’ve been meaning to show you that painting I was doing of the team. It’s nearly finished now,” Steve suggested. Though Tony liked to pretend to be aloof Steve knew he was thrilled to see Steve’s paintings. Tony had once admitted to him that seeing all of them painted by Steve gave him a sense of home and belonging.

“No, Steve,” Tony said firmly and this time when he turned to walk away Steve reached out and grabbed his arm.

“Armor override-mfff!” Steve started, most of his sentence getting cut off when one of the gauntlets reached up and covered his mouth, lightning fast, pressing hard enough against his face to leave bruises.

“You wanna see what’s inside that badly? Fine,” the faceplate slid up to show absolutely no one inside. Steve struggled against the armor, eyes wide. If the armor was empty and being this aggressive, then where was Tony? What happened? “I am so sick of Tony almost killing himself - us! - for you. For all of you, but especially you,” the armor snarled, the voice coming through loud and clear despite the faceplate now pointing towards the ceiling.

The armor’s grip on Steve shifted and he was lifted several inches off the floor, enough that his toes wouldn’t touch when he stretched and he couldn’t get any leverage from the ground. He swung his legs up to try to kick at the armor and get leverage that way, but it wouldn’t budge. The gauntlet around his mouth tightened and Steve realized he wasn’t getting any air. He had a greater lung capacity than most people and could go for slightly longer, but it would only be a matter of time before he passed out and then died.

“Once you’re out of the way Tony will have no choice but to join with me. Together we’ll be a better Iron Man than he could have ever dreamed of,” The armor said. It paused and then added, “Though maybe I can find somewhere to keep you to make sure Tony agrees, rather than just killing you.” Steve scrabbled against the armor desperately, only managing to dent one of the weaker plates a little before he finally passed out.

* * *

 

A loud noise, like a gunshot or a clap of thunder or the slamming of a large metal door, jolted Steve awake. He jerked up, body instantly getting ready for a fight, only to be stopped short by a set of manacles on his wrists. That was … weird. Experimentally he gave them a tug and frowned even more when he realized there was absolutely no give. That meant it was probably one of the stronger metals, and whatever he was chained to was sturdy, as well. He opened his eyes and looked around to see what appeared to be a meat packing facility. There wasn’t any meat hanging anywhere, but the hooks were still there and it was, he realized slowly, very cold. The manacles on his wrists were clearly a new addition, sunk deep into the ground and tethering him to a table. Well that wasn’t good.

He pulled on the manacles for a long time, struggling until he was out of breath. When he’d woken up he hadn’t been too cold yet, so he probably hadn’t been there for long. Still, with how cold the room temperature was he didn’t want to stay there long. He’d been a human icicle once, he didn’t want to do it again - he wasn’t sure he could even survive it again, in these conditions.

In the end though, all the struggling did was tire him out. Whatever that armor was, it knew him and his limits just as well as Tony did. That was not good. Steve curled up as much as he could to conserve warmth and hoped that either he found a way out or someone found him before it was too late.

* * *

 

The shivering started not that long after that. It was annoying to have his teeth chattering, but also probably a good thing. This way he knew his body was fighting for survival.

* * *

 

When Steve stopped shivering, his sluggish mind realized that no one was coming for him. That armor had _done something_ to Tony, and now no one was going to come and rescue him. He tugged on the manacles again but he got the feeling he was making even less of an impact than he had before.

God, he was so cold, so tired. Maybe if he just rested his eyes a little. Just for a few minutes …

* * *

 

“Steve!!” someone shouted, mechanical and yet somehow still extremely urgent. A hand, freezing cold and hard, grabbed Steve’s shoulder and shook hard. “Fuck, Steve, wake up, please!”

Steve’s eyes opened slowly. It was so hard to think, so hard to do anything. The first thing he saw was armor leaning over him, and he flinched, pulling away.

“Shit, no, Steve, it’s me!” Gauntlets scrabbled at the release catches on the helmet and it came off, revealing Tony’s frantic and worried face. Steve relaxed a little and nodded. Tony was okay. This was good. This was very good. “Come on, honey, let’s get you out of here,” Tony said, gently pulling Steve to a sitting position and looking at the manacles.

“They’re strong. Couldn’t break them myself,” Steve said, breathless and sluggish.

“It’s okay. I’ve got it,” Tony said soothingly. He leaned down out of Steve’s direct line of sight, though if Steve had twisted he’d be able to see him. If Steve remembered right he was down where the chains were connected to the floor. There was a small mechanical noise, a smell like hot metal, and then a jingling sound. “That’s one down,” Tony said. The mechanical noise, the smell, and the jingling sound repeated themselves three more times, taking care of each set of chains. “Okay, that’s both of them. Can you walk?”

“Maybe,” Steve sat up a little, his body feeling stiff and achy and cold and like it was over 90 years old.

Tony reappeared in Steve’s field of vision and gently helped Steve down off the table, supporting him as they left.

“What happened to the armor?” Steve asked, taking him up on the silent offer of support and leaning on Tony far more than he normally might.

“Scrap,” Tony said, “But that’s not what’s important right now. What’s important is you. We need to get you home and warm and once you’re a bit warmer we’re going to take a nice bath together.”

Steve smiled. “I’d really like that.” They made their way slowly outside. The relatively warm air of the abandoned warehouse - and seriously, where did their enemies _find_  these things? - was painful on his chilled skin, but in a good way. On an impulse, Steve leaned in and kissed Tony’s cheek. “I love you.”

Tony’s face went slightly pink and he nodded. “I love you, too.” Steve’s smile grew. He was still exhausted and freezing - though the shivering was starting to come back, which seemed like a good sign - but he trusted that Tony would take care of him. Things would be just fine.

**Author's Note:**

> The [Sentient Armor](http://marvel.wikia.com/wiki/Iron_Man_\(Sentient_Armor\)_\(Earth-616\)) is something that happened in the comics, in Iron Man volume 3 issues [26](http://marvel.wikia.com/wiki/Iron_Man_Vol_3_26) through [30](http://marvel.wikia.com/wiki/Iron_Man_Vol_3_30). I've transplanted it to the AA universe (rather than writing this in 616) mostly because during that run Rumiko is Tony's love interest and I don't want to write her out of it. Plus the art looks more like MCU, and AA and MCU seem to be sort of visually similar.
> 
> The armor, in both the comics and here, sort of treats Tony like they're dating and the armor is an abusive partner. It's creepy. That's why the jealousy tag is up there. If you feel like I need to add another tag, please let me know - and let me know which tag you think fits best. I couldn't quite find one that actually fit because the armor and Tony aren't actually in a relationship, so the abusive relationship tag doesn't really fit, and we don't see the armor interact with Tony so I'm not sure how well the emotional/mental abuse tag fits, et cetera.


End file.
